So…
Dodge decided the Hellcat at a measly 707 horsepower wasn’t radical enough, so they now have the Demon coming out, a Challenger based, purpose-built drag racing car with 840 horsepower (!!!), stock factory drag slicks and a normal factory warranty.
Check out the details (and a 0-60 run ONSTAGE) in this brief, but very cool auto show video: Stage and Launch | Challenger SRT® Demon | Dodge - YouTube
Mopar built a few race-ready/drag-ready cars back in the day. I remember a restoration article on one - it had special thin side glass and sat so low that it’s authentic to have the center mufflers crushed, as they were when the cars were unloaded from the car carrier.
I bet trying to take corners is even more exciting than the 1/4 mile dash.
I think all the automakers had something like that in the 60’s and very early 70’s…
The Bobcat GTO’s, Yenko Camaros, etc were all ramped up versions of an existing muscle car to be even more nasty on the dragstrip.
It’s pretty astounding to me that the bean counters at Dodge/Chrysler would allow for the money it must have taken to produce this car, especially given the company’s financial woes being saddled with Fiat and puzzlingly persistent transmission/electrical issues with some of the Chrysler products already on the market.
The ten year old in me really likes this car though. 9.6 seconds in the quarter mile at 140mph trap speed is astonishingly fast for a factory car.
That’s damn fast for even a good bracket racer, these days.
Just gotta put the non-drag tires on the car and it’ll be all right. The Challenger will never be considered “great handling” due to it’s weight and size. I can’t possibly imagine stomping on the gas in a car like that while coming out of a corner.
It’s funny too that the default Demon setup is no passenger or rear seats, but you can option them back into the car…for a dollar apiece.
Indeed. I also find the obnoxiously loud supercharger whine in this car to be a highly addictive mechanical sound. I love it. This is the car Mel Gibson should have been driving in Mad Max.
I can. Your eyes get real big. Like Tim Conway’s elephants.
LOL. As you’re wrapped three times around a telephone pole.
Speaking of which, here’s a '71 Demon beating a 2009 Hemi Challenger in a drag race (they line up around the 1 minute mark).
That Demon’s motor is cammed like a mother…sounds awesome. I love the sound of a cammed V-8 at idle, and then under full beans. There’s no sound like it.
In other words, Dodge is still playing catch-up.
I want one of the 2,200 hp Hellcats, but I can’t afford one.
That’s not really fair since it’s all based around the Alpha platform Camaro with it’s guts replaced with essentially aftermarket components and isn’t an original car since Pontiac is dead. I love the looks of the car, have ALWAYS loved the Bandit Trans Ams looks from back in the day (and this isn’t the first time the car has been resuscitated, here’s an example of a previous resucistation effort with the old car body with exchanged internals and whatnot…a resto-mod: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-0708-1977-pontiac-firebird-trans-am-bandit-edition/)
A boutique shop modifying existing platforms, motors, etc that they didn’t build is NOT an example of a production car and some of those places, unless they have close ties with the manufacturer, are voiding your warranty too.
I’m not a Mopar fanboy, but I love fast cars and for right now, Dodge rules the roost with the Demon, mostly because they make no apologies or pretense about the mission of this halo car. It’s not competing with Corvettes, nor is it trying to be a pony car. This is a straight up blast from the 60’s specialty car built SOLELY for quarter mile runs and domination in that arena.
Next best thing - shoot for a mechanics job for Paul Allen at Paine Field. One of them told me they are required to fly the planes they work on. (Not sure he has a Hellcat - yet…)
Pay attention to the Venom GT.
Same.
If you find the Genie in the Bottle & make a wish, please add one extra for me.
But what if it’s Literal Genie or Jackass Genie?
The truth be told, I’d rather have a Corsair. And they’re more readily available. There’s one at controller.com for $4.1 million, but there were two others there a couple of months ago for about $2.5 million.
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